struggling working out insulin

[manda pops]

Hi guys i am lookin for some advice or stories from other people this will relate to.

i currently take humulin i morning and night and novorapid for meal times.

the problem is i have a hypo before bed but not eaten since like 6. my sugars continue to rise during the night but noticed they rise more the more humulin i take, just cant work it out im at my wits end.

then im hypo 2 hours after breakfast. sugars are just all over the place and i dont know what insulins i should be adjusting. got maculopathy also so thats why i am stressed about getting this right and freak out everytime i see a high blood sugar.

amanda x

 

[drumming_blitz]

Hi Amanda,

Do you do carbohydrate countiing/DAFNE? If you do it may be that your ratios are out. If you are, write down your results, how much insulin and how many carbs you have eaten and you should be able to see a pattern there.

It sounds like your too high on your QA and too low on you LA, you should only change one at a time though.

If you do this, I can have a look over the results and give you hand if you need help.

 

[manda pops]

sorry whats qa and la? i havent done dafne as im waiting on a slot. everytimne it goes well for a wee while it then goes to pot again, i eat only 3 meals a day. if i have a hypo 2 hours after meal is that related to the fast acting insulin?

 

[manda pops]

sorry, yes i count my carbs and weigh everything out and write everything down i test during the night too, but hypos are hard and i will not be getting correct readings grrr

 

[drumming_blitz]

QA is quick acting and LA is long acting, sorry it was the way that I was taught them when I was younger and its stuck with me.

Good to hear your looking into DAFNE, it can really help, and they will teach you how to deal with this yourself.

Its looks like the most plausible answer for your hypos. You should try to reduce you breakfast insulin by 10% - 20% (normally works out about 2 units) and see how that helps.

 

[manda pops]

someone suggested that my body may produce sugar during the night thats why im high? as the more i seem to take the higher it gets. its all so hard trying to work it out. what insulins and rations do u take. just to give me an idea if other people x

 

[drumming_blitz]

ON a good day i take 1 1/2 units of insulin for 10g of carbs and 2:1 on a bad day (ill, stressed, high sugars) and a 1 unit for 2 bg correction. I take 28 Long acting on an evening.

I think I suffer from that as well, but has been quite good recently, its called the Dawn phenomenon, and no one can explain it. I'm normally fine until about 3/4 in the morning when i start to rise.

 

[manda pops]

yes thats the same as me i start to rise around 3ish but have noticed that if i take less insulin i dont rise as much. weird. just want to get it stable. my la is split between morning and night i take at night and in the morning. in the morning i have been taking 2 for ten but maybe i should try 1.5. its annoying how its diff throughout the day as at lunch i need 1 to 10 but night time tea its 1 to 10 + a couple of units haha x hopefully il get there, it shouldnt be this difficult x

 

[drumming_blitz]

Sounds like a good idea to change by that amount. I know what you mean, when I first started DAFNE I was on 2.5 at breakfast and 2 the rest of the day, but I got better control to lower my dose now.

What are the results like the rest of the day, are they all okay?

 

[manda pops]

its hard to say true readings as i have a few hypos alot is approaching meal times but i think i may need less la in the morning and maybe take more ratio as at meal times the fast acting should all have gone and by the time i get my high sugar down i then end up hypo. be good if i could not eat anything for 3 days to get my la sorted and stable then work on my qa haha. i feel like im running out of time to fix it and im gonna be doomed. how long have you been diabetic for? im 26 and was diagnosed when i was 9

 

[manda pops]

what insulins do you take? i think the humulin i may need changed as its a intermediate acting would long acting be better you think?

 

[drumming_blitz]

Yeah I thought that would be the case. personally the first thing i would do would be to stop them hypos with the quick acting first, then if you need to you can sort long acting when you afterwards, when you can see what it is doing properly. But each to their own.

About the same length time as you, Diagnosed when I was 5 about June time, i'm 22 now.

 

[manda pops]

thanks for all your advice today you have been a good help.

take care

 

[drumming_blitz]

Hi Amanda,

Just wondering you had made any changes yet, and how you are finding them?

 

[manda pops]

hi,

thanks for this

i have taken 2 units less insulin at la bed time and uped my ratios by a half throughout the day and my sugar are stable still between 7 and 8 but least they are stable.

im 7 at bed time and 8 in the morning although i would prefer it was the other way around haha. going to see my nurse tomoro for a catch up. hopefuly i can keep it stable from now on. even had chinease on sat and i weighed it all out and my sugar was fab after it.

how are you?

 

[drumming_blitz]

Good glad its all working out so far, and fingers crossed that it keeps going that way for you, which i'm sure it will. Well done with weighing out the Chinese food.

I'm not to bad, bit high at 13-15 this weekend, but I think that has to do with drinking quite a bit of alcohol on Saturday.

 

[manda pops]

well we cant be good all the time can we. just tested and it was 8, and was 8 this morning 7 last night. just need to get it down between 5-6 and keep it there easier said than done tho i end up hypo.

have you developed any complications? i have eye problems that scare me all the time but all we can do is keep control. (except weekends haha)

 

[drumming_blitz]

That's my view exactly, have a bender now and then but keep it a hospital free night and its all good .

5-6 would be too low for me, a like to have a bit of a fall back for unplanned exercise, but to each there own. Its good to see that you readings are staying stable (I've always been told that anything lower than 9 is good enough).

Yeah, I have a few propblems. I have the eye problems as well a a few other things that I think maybe related to diabetes, but my GP and diabetes doctor don't or don't bother helping me with.

 

[manda pops]

its horrible aint it. i have noticed my eyes changed recently but still waiting for an appointment at the clinc im worried every day its getting worse and just cant cope with it all, really cant live with the fact i might not be able to see people i loves faces anymore. my sugars really affect my eyes to so i have just got to cope that itl clear up one day and everything will become stable and i can get on with life.

how do u cope with it?

 

[drumming_blitz]

I never noticed a change until I had an issue with low blood pressure in February 2012 and always put it down to that (Everything was blurry and my eyes were sensative to the light). I know exactly what you mean, its scary to think about it.

I don't cope with it that well. I find ignoring it as much as i can helps. When I do have to think about it, I use the thought of eventually not seeing faces of loved ones to help push me through it.